The world isn’t changing

January 19, 2012

So many articles and blog posts written to get people to do something different or differently, begin with the same conceit: the world is changing and we better get on board. I’ve made this argument myself more times than I care to count. It seems obvious and yet so many people refuse to change.
The truth is, I’m not so sure that the “world is changing” conceit is the right way to think about the world. Actually, I don’t think the world is changing. People have been proclaiming that the world is changing since day two of the world. I don’t think we can call it “change” anymore. That sense you have that something is different today than it was yesterday, that thing you see that you didn’t see before, that’s not change. That’s just the world. That’s what happens. That’s what has always happened. No forecasting, trend reports or crystal balls are needed. You’ve seen this movie before about a billion times – you’re not allowed to feign surprise at the ending anymore.
I’m not amazed by peoples’ failure to contend with change. I’m amazed by the failure of so many people to contend with what has been true forever.
You know it’s coming. Not you think it’s coming. You know it’s coming. What are you doing about it?

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Claire Farber January 26, 2012 at 10:28 AM

Adam,
Consistent with your point, I just read that every year 98% of the atoms in a human body are exchanged (Deepak Chopra’s, Grow Younger, Live Longer.) Unbeknownst to most of us, our own bodies are in a constant state of change…of course everything around us would be too.
Claire

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Adam January 26, 2012 at 1:49 PM

That’s fascinating! Maybe every year we need to bring together the 2% of atoms that we have from the year before and have a conversation about how we go forward. “Look guys: we are the minority here. We better learn how to fit in. The times they are a-changin!”

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